How to choose a site for the construction of a country house

Recommendation points

• Infrastructure
• Water supply
• Gasification of the site
• Electricity
• Sewerage
• Site geometry
• The level of psychological comfort
• Legal aspects
• Let’s sum up

Buying a suburban area is a very responsible business. You can just buy a piece of land and invest a lot of money in it, or you can buy a plot that is already ready for building. How to choose a site, what to look for when choosing it – we will talk about all this in our article.

Before you start choosing a site for the construction of a country house, you should decide for what purposes you will need a summer cottage:

1. The country house will be all-season, with the possibility of permanent residence. In this case, you should choose areas with a developed road infrastructure that allows you to get to it in any weather. Ideally – not heavily loaded road direction, allowing you to get to the city in a maximum of 90 minutes. But such plots cost 20-40 percent more expensive than those that fit the second paragraph.
2. Country house only for the warm season, with periodic attendance. In this option, comfortable movement to the garden area in dry weather will be important..

But you need to be prepared for the fact that in the future there may be additional costs for organizing access roads – laying an asphalt or concrete road from the main highway. This usually happens 2-5 years after the start of the sale of plots – that is, when a sufficient number of people are recruited who are ready to spend (in equal shares) on the construction of access roads.

The presence of capital access roads to the site where construction will be carried out guarantees the possibility of all-season delivery of large-sized building materials and equipment. That is, if the construction of a serious house is planned, then this is a very important aspect. Since construction is carried out mainly by hired workers, the timely delivery of construction material will exclude the possibility of downtime for the team and ensure the construction of the facility as soon as possible..

In any case, whether you choose the first or second option, public transport should go from the summer cottage – train, bus, river ships, etc..

Infrastructure

An engineering infrastructure should be developed at the summer cottage. Let’s take a closer look at what you should pay special attention to when choosing a site for the construction of a country house.

Water supply

Connecting to an existing water supply will cost several times less than drilling a well. It is carried out independently using the appropriate pipes and fittings.

But well drilling can also be divided into several sections, if the pump power allows. The cost of drilling depends on the depth of the water suitable for consumption – it can sometimes reach several tens of meters. The level of occurrence of artesian waters is indicated on the general plan of the site (in the case of an examination). You can find out on your own by contacting the local department of the State Geology.

Gasification of the site

If in the areas designed for seasonal visits, it is enough to connect only to the power line (gas can be delivered independently in gas cylinders), then in the areas that will be visited all year round, it should be possible to connect to the gas main.

It is better to supply gas to the site after construction is completed – otherwise this work will cost you twice as much. You will have to pay for the main line to the site, and again for connecting the house. Most of the construction companies involved in connecting to the gas main take care of all the paperwork – it is more profitable for them to put the object (even a country house) into operation faster, and they are fully responsible for the quality of the work performed.

If you decide to draw up a technical specification (technical conditions) on your own, then you will have to visit a number of instances.

1. It is necessary to obtain a permit in the Oblgaz of your settlement.

For this we provide a number of documents:

• documents for the site and the house (copies)
• technical passport of BTI
• copy of the customer’s passport
• INN
• statement

All these documents are considered in Gaztrest, where they decide on the possibility of gasification of a site or house. But you need to know, the verdict of the commission is practically not subject to revision.

At new sites where gasification is provided, the declared capacities are usually sufficient, since the pipeline is designed for the maximum volume of gas consumed.

2. We order a project for connecting the house to the gas main.

The project is being developed by firms with a special permit (license). The gas injection project includes:

• approval of the installation of gas appliances (heating columns, boilers, etc.)
• equipment brand (usually they recommend their dealers, but you can look for analogues with similar parameters)
• execution of as-built documentation indicating the installed devices and their location.

It is also necessary to have a calculation of heat loss and an approximate volume of gas consumed. After receiving the necessary documents, you can crash into a common gas main.

Electricity

The suburban area must be unambiguously electrified, which means that there must be a distance of no more than 50 m to the power line, otherwise the cost of the work can be quite large. Consider the ideal option when a power line passes near the site.

If you do not have your own professional skills, then you will have to hire a professional electrician who will supply electricity to the site – install a switchboard and an electricity meter.

Before that, it is necessary to conclude an agreement with the power grid organization, which will require a number of documents:

• a written agreement between the site owner and the electricity supplier;
• a notarized copy of documents confirming the ownership of the land plot;
• information about metering devices (electric meter brand, wiring diagram, etc.);
• the most accurate listing of devices that will consume electricity.

The list of documents and requirements may vary slightly depending on the region – a full list will be provided by a representative of the power grid organization.

Under suitable conditions, you can not depend on the power line, but get energy in an alternative way by installing solar panels and a wind turbine. The generated energy is enough to provide electricity for a country house, which is used in the warm season. Such installations are getting cheaper every year – today you can keep within 150,000 rubles.

Sewerage

Sewerage in any of the cases is a nice bonus, nothing more. If there is no central one, then you can make a cesspool with the possibility of pumping waste products, or use chemical reagents that dissolve or compost sewage.

Conclusion: initially, you should consider plots for a summer residence with the closest possible communications. To do this, you should pay attention to the terrain plan – all communications are indicated on it (with explanations), and, simply armed with a ruler, you can preliminarily estimate by scale how far they are from the site.

When buying a plot for construction, it is better to choose with electricity and water (at least technical) supplied. These moments will greatly facilitate the construction process – using a power tool, preparing mortar, etc..

You can, of course, use an electric generator, but you need to take into account its cost (or rental price), the power produced and daily maintenance..

Site geometry

In addition, it is worth immediately weeding out areas of irregular geometric shape (they must be either square or rectangular). Plots with a broken border in the future will lead to a conflict with neighbors over land surveying. In addition, it is more rational to plan plots with the correct geometric shape for construction..

The level of psychological comfort

The cost of plots, even in the same cooperative society, largely depends on several other factors:

• presence and distance from the reservoir (lake or river)
• remoteness from the forest (plots near the plantation are more expensive)
• proximity to the main road junction

Decide what is more important to you in the country, for which you are ready to overpay.

Legal aspects

It is also important: the cost of the plots will depend on the possibility of making a “dacha” residence permit – that is, a dacha plot should fall under the category of land in rural settlements. For this, the dacha must have the status of “residential building”. If the site falls under the category of “personal subsidiary farming”, then no matter how chic the house is there, it will not work to register in it.

A set of documents that are provided to the future owner when buying and selling:

• certificate of state registration of ownership of land;
• title to the site and buildings (if any);
• cadastral plan – only the original;
• clarify the absence of land tax arrears;
• document on the standard cost of the site;
• absence of prohibitions and arrests;
• certificate of the presence / absence of structures and buildings.

The cadastral passport is mandatory, which indicates the type of permitted use and the principle of the intended purpose of land. In the absence of any documents – the transaction is not possible.

Let’s sum up

If a summer cottage is bought in a gardening partnership or in a village (village), then many questions will disappear immediately – there is already an existing infrastructure and you can get information on many issues from the employees of the partnership, old-timers, who answer fairly honestly, talking about the problems.

Contact a good lawyer if new land is being sold, then all documents must be carefully checked.

The main problems usually arise on new lands that are allocated for summer cottages. Not all neighbors will be ready to spend collectively for the sake of a common cause for a number of reasons – lack of funds, having their own opinion (different from the opinion of other people, even if the majority), and simply of a harmful nature. It’s like a lottery, so always count on yourself.